Focus: The future of housing delivery

By Katy McPhie, Senior Associate Solicitor in the Real Estate team at Blacks Solicitors

The discussion around housing delivery provokes much debate, which is only likely to intensify as the general election approaches. 

National targets

In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservative Party outlined its aim to build 300,000 homes annually by the mid-2020s. The Government has recommitted to that target but has fallen short each year, and supplied only 234,400 homes (net) in 2022-2023. 

At the Labour Party conference, Sir Keir Starmer declared an intention to build 1,500,000 new homes. Over the course of a parliamentary period of five years, this would also equate to 300,000 annually on average.  

Local targets 

Local Planning Authorities (‘LPAs’) set local housing targets in their Local Plans. The Government’s recent amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework include a clear statement that an LPA is not obliged to review green belt boundaries, and stipulate that a housing requirement calculation based on the standard method is now only an ‘advisory starting point’ for an LPA. 

LPAs were already able to use an alternative approach to the standard method in ‘exceptional circumstances’, but Matthew Pennycook, Shadow Housing Minister, has been critical of the amendments, commenting that LPAs now have more freedom to plan for less housing, undermining the national target.  

Brownfield and green belt policies

The Government’s Long Term Plan for Housing reasserts its favoured ‘brownfield first’ approach, committing £800 million from the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund for developments on brownfield land. The Government is also writing to LPAs to instruct them to prioritise brownfield developments and be more flexible when applying relevant policies, and has also launched a consultation; ‘Strengthening planning policy for brownfield development’, which sets out its intention to direct more housing growth towards urban areas. 

The Shadow Housing Minister concurs that development on brownfield sites should be incentivised but thinks more of the “right bits” of green belt land should be released for development because there is insufficient brownfield land, and has stated that it is time for a more strategic approach to green belt release. Sir Keir Starmer has expressed discontent with some current land uses within the green belt but has been clear that the Labour Party has no intention to “tear up” the green belt.  

Looking forward

Firstly, there is debate around the adequacy of the national target. Centre for Cities previously suggested 442,000 homes annually over 25 years were required to address the deficit. 

Furthermore, there have been countless claims over the years that the planning system will be overhauled to boost housing delivery. Both the Government and the Labour Party still have such ambitions. However, it takes significant time to bring new legislation, policies and updated guidance into force. Case law and appeal decisions inevitably follow. The industry then needs time to familiarise itself with the changes. 

It is well-known that local authorities across the country are under-resourced. Many LPAs are struggling to progress local plans and issue planning decisions, whilst also getting to grips with biodiversity net gain, nutrient neutrality, the Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023 and more changes to permitted development rights, before any further reform. 

Some LPAs have recently benefited from up to £100,000 from the Government’s Planning Skills Delivery Fund to help address a backlog of applications. The Government has committed an additional £13.5 million for “a “super-squad” of experts to support large scale development projects” and the Labour Party has committed to funding 300 new planning officers, if elected.

Even so, further reform may still only increase delay. The ‘Planning for the Future’ White Paper was cited as a cause of delay to some local plans and more recently, the lack of predictability and complexity of the planning system were key concerns outlined in the Completion and Markets Authority ‘Housebuilding Market Study’.

In addition, whilst the sheer number of incumbents in the role of Housing Minister since 2010 may be indicative of the scale of the challenge, the lack of stability has arguably been problematic for the sector.

Set against this backdrop, it is important to remain realistic about the prospects of seeing a significant, positive impact within just one parliamentary term, no matter how bold the aims.